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This invention relates to animal feeders and particularly to a bird feeder for dispensing loose fill seed and having two independent seed compartments incorporating a ventilation system that is manufactured into chimney caps. The feeder will accommodate large birds like grouse and will dispense loose fill seed varying in composition and size at a controlled rate by the use of seed regulators. The present invention also relates to a feeder that is easily filled. By the virtue of its integrated parts, the feeder will accommodate expansion and contraction of wood parts along its central axis and is easily repaired if damaged. Furthermore the roof panels, where they join, are sealed with silicone, as are the chimneys where they attach to the roof. By placing chimney caps on the chimneys and water proofing the roof, the outside of the chimney and the chimney caps the roof becomes a waterproof structure therein keeping the seed and grain dry.
I have been feeding wild birds in the country now for approximately twelve years. The birds that I feed are those that inhabit woodlands with pastures, brush and numerous wetland areas one to two acres in size. A large majority of the birds that I feed are large in size such as quail, flickers, woodpeckers, young pheasants, red winged black birds and grouse, not to mention the smaller species. The process of this invention started with the grouse one winter when they decided to eat the young dormant buds from my fruit trees. Five grouse, in a short period of four weeks, ruined next years fruit crop from forty-five fruit trees by eating or breaking off the dormant buds.
I had built birdfeeders when I was a kid and I realized that if I provided feed for the grouse, they might prefer the feeder to the fruit trees. I went to all of the stores in my area, sixteen in all, hoping to find a feeder that would be large enough and durable enough to withstand constant and rugged use. All of the feeders I encountered were quite small and would not hold very much seed. I also noticed that they were constructed in a manner that would not hold up to severe climate changes and were often built of plastic and metal. Plastic and metal feeders would work, however, the perches were also constructed of the same material and were small in size. I knew that they would heat up in the summer and freeze in the winter according to the ambient temperature, thereby burning or freezing the feet of birds, rendering the feeder useless and causing unnecessary harm to the animals and birds. A natural wood perch would be the best way to handle this issue, and I could have adapted a perch to work.
I consequently asked a friend of mine, who had a lot of birdfeeders, which ones he liked and hoped he could help me. His feeders were primarily made of plastic and one was metal, and they had very severe problems that he showed me. The plastic feeders would break down in the sunlight and be virtually worthless in two years, and he could not find replacement parts. The metal feeder held a large volume of feed; however, the seed was continually rotting due to condensation build-up, and finally, after three years, rust had rendered the feeder non-functional. We both agreed that the type of birdfeeder I was looking for was not available.
I immediately built a large capacity feeder with a feeding platform that was covered by a roof. The original bird feeder was comprised of xc2xe-inch thick wood boards. The widths for the roof, chimney, side panel and ends varied. The seed platform was made from ⅝-inch exterior grade plywood. I used plywood for the seed platform due to its characteristics of not splitting or cupping and its ability to resist decomposition and blowing up by being made with exterior grade glue. The surfaces of the roof, chimney and chimney cap were coated with two applications of marine spar varnish wherein only the exposed, outside surfaces were varnished. The remainder of the bird feeder did not receive any protective coating or finish because it could possibly harm the birds by direct ingestion or contamination of the seed by contact. The feeder was placed on a wood pole six feet above the ground and positioned at the edge of my orchard.
Using cracked corn the following winter, I was able to attract the grouse to the feeder by placing corn and alfalfa pellets on a piece of plywood placed next to the seed platform of the feeder. In a few days they were actively using the feeder and staying out of the orchard. It was well worth it, as damage to my fruit trees from the grouse was reduced by over seventy-five percent.
That following summer, an inherent problem of large bird feeders became quite evident. I could not keep my chickens out of the feeder. They simply gobbled up all of the wild bird food and corn. Instead of building fences and all types of deterrents, I attempted to solve the problem by designing a bird feeder that was large enough for a ruffled grouse to perch on and feed, yet small enough that a chicken could not perch on the platform.
The seed platform was cut down in size and the side panels angled outward, hopefully to keep the chickens from feeding from the platform, yet still allowing them to pick up what seed was scattered or spilled. The next hurdle was to determine if the grouse would be able to use the seed platform or if it would be too small to accommodate their size. The grouse never returned that winter. However, I discovered that the bird feeder, through one summer, fall and winter was completely ruined by the elements and the birds themselves. I would put out suet cakes for the flickers and woodpeckers in the fall and winter and the woodpeckers pecked holes the size of quarters in the side panels of the seed bins. The wood on the roof and side panels was warped, split and cupped, and at the junction of the two horizontal side panels, the joint had separated and seed was spilling onto the platform. The chimney came apart and was detached from the roof. The plywood seed platform however was in good condition. I used exterior grade plywood due to its characteristics of not delaminating. It does not tend to split the way wood boards do and has the ability to securely anchor wood screws.
It was during this time that I started looking at the bird feeders on the market, and I quickly observed that most bird feeders could not physically facilitate the feeding of large wild birds. I also observed small seed bins with small or non-regulating seed access ports. Most of these seed bins, being made of plastic, were structurally flimsy, as plastic deteriorates in the sun. I continued to watch the designs in bird feeders as they came onto the market and did not see any other bird feeders like mine.
I decided that summer that I would redesign the original bird feeder and eliminate the problems associated with the weather, type of building material and the dispensing of variable sized seed. The new feeder varied from the original in that it was completely made from exterior grade ⅝-inch plywood, two wood blocks, glue and screws. The seed platform was enlarged sideways, the side panels were sloped more to the outside and the end panels were enlarged. The grouse had access to both the redesigned and original feeders. They were placed in close proximity to each other and contained the same type of seed. I believed that the grouse would go to the feeder that would best facilitate their feeding habits.
That following winter, the feeders were a host to a multitude of migrating birds, large and small. The grouse came back that winter, and as expected, preferred the feeders to the orchard. The platform of the new plywood feeder was large enough to allow adult grouse to perch and obtain all the seed they required. Four grouse could feed at one time at the feeder. The feeders were filled via a single chimney, and the seed, contained in a single feed bin, was dispensed out through four feeder ports, measuring approximately four inches long by xc2xe-inch high. The seed bin contained alfalfa pellets and cracked corn for the grouse, and smaller seed comprised of Niger thistle, milo, black sunflower seed, sunflower meats and other small seed for the remainder of birds. I also placed suet cakes with seeds on the roof of the feeder for feeding the flickers, woodpeckers, and nuthatches. The seed and grain was often inconsistently dispensed, denying the smaller birds access to their type and quantity of seed. The grouse wasted a lot of seed and I observed that smaller birds require and preferred different types and quantity of seed than larger birds.
Moisture became a problem that summer, when the orchard sprinklers would come on and the feeders would get completely soaked. In a couple of days the seed would start to rot. Consequently, I designed the chimney cap so that it would allow air to circulated through the seed and remove the water vapor. The platform was also redesigned to allow the addition of wood sticks to retain the seed on the platform yet still allow standing water to run off the seed platform due to the fact when the seed platform became wet, it warped longitudinally and shed the water away from the seed bins.
Water continued to present a problem because the orchard sprinklers would completely soak the feeders and consequently rot the seed. I left the two feeders in this arrangement because it provided an opportunity to test the effects of wet and dry cycles, every three to four days, which became invaluable in redesigning a new feeder. People, for the most part, buy bird feeders to observe the activity and feeding habits of birds. The yard around a house is the most likely location for a bird feeder, which is subjected to the same effects often produced by a lawn sprinkler.
By the following summer, the original bird feeder and the plywood feeder were in rough condition. When examining the original feeder it was easy to see that the roof and chimney were warped and split. The holes in the wood side panels were enlarged by the wood flickers and woodpeckers to such a degree that the seed would pour out of them. The side panels were also warped, cupped and split, and where the side panels made contact with the seed platform, water damage or dry rot occurred to the side panels where the seed is dispensed. Moisture was condensing inside the seed bin and ruining the seed as well as the feeder itself.
The redesigned plywood feeder also suffered damage from moisture and direct water contact. However, the damage was much less severe. The roof panels had warped and a gap along the ridge had opened up. This action loosened the chimney to the point where it was no longer attached to the roof. This condition allowed water to penetrate into the seed bin and contaminate the seed. The side panels had warped away from feeder throats and small seed would spill onto the seed platform. Other than these items, the bird feeder was in good condition. The plywood seed platform was in good condition and showed little sign of warping or splitting and securely held the component parts together with the screws that penetrated them.
The assembly of the feeder did not allow me to replace the broken parts without taking the bird feeder completely apart because some of the parts were glued together and could not be disassembled without breaking.
I began designing a third bird feeder that summer by addressing the problems previously presented by the first two feeders along with new innovations such as the center bin separator. This device divides the single seed chamber into two chambers, and through the process of assembly, creates an internal support system that would later prove to be a significant and substantial part of the bird feeder and how it functions. I also added two chimneys to fill the separated bins with different seed.
I began by correcting the problem of warped roof panels at the ridge by placing a bead of silicone along the edge of the roof panels where they make contact at the ridge. The chimneys were attached to the roof, where they make contact at the ridge with silicone. Attaching the two chimneys in this manner helped keep the roof panels at the ridge from separating. With the addition of silicone, a solid, flexible and waterproof bond was formed. This design also provided structural support around the two access holes located inside the chimney that are used for filling the feeder.
The two chimneys allowed the two seed chambers or bins to be filled with different types of seed. The chimney caps were designed with two moisture vapor venting air channels that allowed warm moist air to ventilate to the outside. The bin separator was designed at this point. The bin separator was comprised of four separate pieces of plywood that completely separated the bin, thereby not allowing seed to transfer from one bin to another when its seed was depleted. However, there were still problems with this model. The assembly of the bin separator was not conducive to repair. These design problems would be resolved in the final invention.
I designed this birdfeeder in response to existing problems and elemental flaws of outdoor bird feeders that were being marketed. The majority of the wild bird feeders on the market were of poor quality and lacked the structural integrity and composition to survive the long-term effects of the sun, wind, rain, freeze thaw cycles and the occasional lawn sprinkler. At best, most of those bird feeders lasted no longer than two years. A lot of the bird feeders had strings that penetrated their roofs and allowed water to access the seed and causing the seed to rot. I bought three of those poorly designed models that fed finches. The final design would address and correct these flaws.
Water vapor contamination of seed is the major problem with feeding birds. Hanging or suspended feeders often have their attaching mechanism penetrating the seed bin, thus contaminating the seed. Mounting my feeder on a post or pole solved this problem. By the nature of their construction, some feeders have seams or cracks allowing water to penetrate the roof structure and directly contaminate the seed. These feeders fail to include some type of caulking and are typically not designed in a fashion that prevents water or moisture from penetrating the seed storage area. Adding silicone to where all parts joined each other on the roof structure would solve this problem, which I did.
The feeders that I saw on the market that attempted to solve this water and moisture problem did not address air ventilation and condensation, which can be a severe problem when outdoor temperatures fluctuate. Another design flaw with many of these feeders was the hinged roof for easy filling. While this type of feeder was easy to fill, every time it rained, the water would run into the seed bin through the hinge and I would have to replace the seed.
xe2x80x9cLexanxe2x80x9d or plastic sided bird feeders had the problem that the clear plastic the manufacture uses breaks down in sunlight very quickly, rendering it brittle. My friend has several of this type that he makes, and he replaces his plastic every couple of years. He said that the birds would peck at the seed behind the clear plastic and therein crack the plastic. I wanted to design a bird feeder that was esthetically pleasant and could last for a good five years. I also wanted to be able to replace the parts that could get ruined and address the above problems.
With typical bird feeders, the platforms or perches are not large enough and only a few birds can feed at one time. Birdseed platforms often can not facilitate and support large wild birds such as quail, young pheasants, large woodpeckers, etc. The platforms or perches that I saw were primarily made of metal, plastic and wood. Metal bases and perches conduct both heat and cold, which can cause damage to a bird""s feet. Plastic also has these qualities, yet to a lesser degree. Wood is natural and exhibits stable properties when affected by hot and cold cycles. I would use wood perches and wood branches for perching and containing seed on the seed platform, thusly solving the problems of heat and cold on the birds"" feet.
With typical bird feeders, only one type or size of seed can be dispensed at a time and seed flow can not easily be regulated. By installing a bin separator in the seed chamber, I created two separate seed containment chambers along with two chimneys for filling and two chimney caps for weather protection. Furthermore, I added two seed access ports to the already existing two ports and designed seed regulators to limit the flow and size of the seed being dispensed. These additions corrected the above problems.
An innovative and integral part of the birdfeeder is called the bin separator, which allows the forces of expansion and contraction to be exerted in a manner that holds securely all of the associated parts in their relative position. By the virtue of its design, it allows the feeder to be assembled, disassembled. The bin separator also facilitates the replacement of parts with minimal skills and tools.
Furthermore, when a specific part is damaged or needs to be replaced and is removed from the feeder, the feeder will always maintain its structural form and integrity. The composition of the related parts that would potentially require repair or replacement is manufactured from ⅝-inch exterior grade plywood that is readily available.
Typical bird feeders are hard to fill. In many of the stores that sell bird feeders and seed, I quite often saw a variety of smaller scoops available for filling bird feeders. Because of these scoops"" small size, repeated scooping is often needed to fill even a small bird feeder. Many feeders are filled from the top, and incorporate a variety small, sliding-access filling ports or hinged roofs. During filling, some of those bird feeders must be removed from their stands or supporting devices. Some feeders are filled by having their roofs removed by sliding their roofs up support lines or strings with one hand and using the other hand to hold a pail of seed and scoop the seed into the feeder while hanging from these supports. With this design, it is typically safer and easier to remove the feeder and fill it on a bench or the ground. All of above scenarios result in wasted and spilled seed and the potential for people to become injured.
A vast majority of bird feeders do not come in kit form. Bird feeders get broken and replacement parts are difficult to obtain for repairing them, if not impossible. This bird feeder was designed with the ability to be sold in kit form; however, that was and is not my intention of claims.
Wild bird feeders on the market appear to represent four basic categories of composition: wood or wood products, plastic, metal and/or a composition of materials. My bird feeder is a wood product comprised primarily of exterior grade plywood for the most part, with two solid pieces of wood, metal screw fasteners, exterior wood glue, silicone, stain and tongue oil, which is available at any hardware or lumber store.
The bird feeder""s roof, chimneys and chimney caps are completely water-resistant when properly treated. The roof covers the seed platform, which is inside the roofs drip line. This prevents seeds from molding due to weather conditions such as rain and snow. When driven water and snow and the occasional lawn sprinkler soaks the seed platform, the seed platform will warp down from its horizontal plane thusly allowing any further water/moisture from contaminating the seed and running off the seed platform edges past the perches. This warping occurs because of wood""s tendency to expand when it absorbs moisture. With plywood, this warping is more noticeable because of the way the laminations of wood are placed. When the moisture or water is drying, the plywood seed platform conforms back to its original shape and configuration.
My bird feeder is large enough in size to accommodate over two gallons of loose fill bird seed and has the capacity of supplying two different types of seed due to its two independent seed storage bins that are divided by a bin separator. The method of filling the bird feeder with seed or grain is accomplished by using the hollow chimneys"" internal passageway and employing a seed delivering device such as an empty plastic one-gallon milk container or any container having the same properties. Filling the feeder is easy, as the inside dimensions of the chimney are such as to accept the dimensions of a one-gallon plastic jug""s neck.
My method of filling the feeder using a plastic one-gallon container by inserting its pour spout into a chimney prevents seed from spilling. Very little seed is wasted in this process in relationship to the volume of seed that can be delivered to the seed bins.
My bird feeder contains four seed access ports and four moveable, adjustable seed regulators. Seed can be regulated at any one or all four seed access ports.
Each solid wood chimney cap covers the chimney and incorporates two moisture vapor venting air channels that provide airflow around and through the contained seeds.
The birdfeeder is comprised of new structural innovations, such as the center bin separator. This device divides the single seed chamber into two separate chambers and through the process of assembly creates an internal support system that proves to be a significant and substantial part of the bird feeder and how it functions. The bin separator""s function is to push outwardly and separate the side panels and feeder throats in a fashion that forces the side panels and feeder throats to interlock because of their relationship to each other. The bin separator also keeps the side panels and feeder throats in alignment with each other, thereby maintaining a sound fit along the line where the side panels and feeder throats contact each other.
This bin separator system allows for complete expansion and contraction of the feeder, provides considerable strength and allows for different types of seed to be dispensed at one time. The bin separator""s associated component parts and two easily accessible screws hold the bin separator in position. Above all, the bin separator divides the bin into two separate seed containment areas allowing different types of seed to be dispensed at one time.
For mounting the bird feeder, it is recommended that it be post mounted approximately six feet from the ground. If the bird feeder is hung by ropes, wires or chains you would probably more than likely have to penetrate the roof structure with a hole, thusly contaminating the seed with moisture and water, therein defeating the reasoning why you built it to be water resistant.